As you may well be aware, there has been a growing problem recently with illegal imports within the photographic industry. What was previously a 'grey' market with some legal parallel imports has now become almost entirely a black market of illegal imports.

Retailers operating in this manner may offer a price that's lower than legitimate sellers, but the fact is that they are acting illegally and evade paying VAT.

Illegal VAT evasion costs the UK billions of pounds each year within the eCommerce industry, and it's a sad fact that grey importers in the photographic industry are a big contributor to this.

There is now a website called VAT Gap dedicated to giving consumers more information on the issue and to help them to identify potential grey import suppliers. The website is a great resource and outlines the issues around purchasing illegal imports, as well as determining where you buy your equipment from.

Issues looked at include the problems with illegal imports, why they are damaging to the UK and how we can stop grey imports. Also looked at are the laws involved and some myths about VAT, as well as links to further reading on the subject.

It's well worth having a look at the VAT Gap website before deciding where your next camera purchase comes from. Many legitimate UK websites that pay hundreds of thousands of pounds in VAT every year are losing out because of these illegal importers. This website will help you to identify a grey importer and avoid buying from them, whilst understanding the true manner in which these retailers operate and the massive negative impacts this has on the UK economy.